Telus rolls out welcome mat to lead Dec. lobbying numbers

Telus Corp. led the telecom pack in December for government relations activity, according to the federal lobbyists’ registry, logging 14 monthly communication reports. In addition to getting in touch with the policy advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Justin To, Telus also bent the ears of members of the prime minister’s cabinet. According to the communication reports, which are filed by the 15th of every month for the previous month’s activity, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains were lobbied on telecommunications. François-Philippe Champagne, now Minister of International Trade, but at-the-time parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, was also contacted about telecom issues, while Celina Caesar-Chavannes, parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, was lobbied on health. Telus also communicated with officials from the Department of National Defence and Public Safety Canada last month. The company is registered to lobby under CEO Darren Entwistle, though that doesn’t mean he participated in the reported communication with public office holders. December followed a similarly (though not quite as) busy November for Telus, when it reported 10 communications with public office holders, though its Nov. activity paled in comparison to the 24 communications reported in February. December’s 14 communications, however, made the company the fifth-most active lobbyist for the month of December. In response to a query about its pre-holiday season blitz, Telus spokeswoman Luiza Staniec said in an email that they’ve “recently welcomed new team members to Telus who have been attending introductory meetings to get acquainted with key stakeholders.” Speaking of a blitz: In the weeks leading up to BCE Inc. filing a new appeal in federal court challenging the CRTC’s new prohibition of simultaneous substitution during the Super Bowl, media outlets reported on what appeared to be a veritable barrage of lobbying to get the government to intervene in time for February’s game. But of note, Bell itself didn’t appear to substantially increase its own formal communication with the government, filing only three communication reports for December. This included reaching out to MPs Wayne Easter and Bob Nault, who wrote letters to the CRTC encouraging the regulator to reverse its decision. December did appear to be a slower month for Bell, which logged six communication reports in November and five in October. You’d have to go back to April to reach the company’s 2016 high of 11. However, the National Football League, which is also part of the appeal process, did get some boots on the ground at the end of 2016, registering with Maryscott Greenwood, a consultant at Dentons, to lobby specifically for a simsub ban reversal. Greenwood logged two communication reports for December and five in November since registering on Nov. 21. Shaw Communications Inc. ended 2016 by making three communications reports, targeting policy people at Innovation Canada and the PMO. Rogers Communications Inc. did not report any formal communication with politicians or public servants in December, but did make seven reports in November, including reaching out to Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, Morneau and CRTC commissioner Christopher MacDonald. Overall, telecommunications was the subject of 43 communications reports in December, ranking it 20th for the month’s discussed topics. That was down almost 25 per cent from 57 reports in November, which was the most the subject was raised in the past six months. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Telus rolls out welcome mat to lead Dec. lobbying numbers

Broadcast | January 23, 2017

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Telus rolls out welcome mat to lead Dec. lobbying numbers

Broadcast | January 23, 2017

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

Bell sees revenue decline, reports loss for Q3 2024

Bell acquires U.S. telecom; Eastlink buys in Northern Ontario

Legal dispute between Bell, Rogers over Discovery channels ends

Rogers buys Bell’s stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for $4.7B

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us